


Sweet

by HotCocoaMocha



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akechi Goro Lives, Coffee Dad Sakura Sojiro, Good Parent Sakura Sojiro, Implied Relationships, Inspired by Music, Platonic Relationships, Slow Burn, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:42:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22767211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotCocoaMocha/pseuds/HotCocoaMocha
Summary: A collection of Valentine's Day one-shots for our favorite Joker.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Sweet

_My head starts to buzz_

_And my heart fills with love_

_Over you~_

* * *

It's a calm day in Yongen-jaya, the light outside slowly turning dark amber as evening approaches. The smell of fresh coffee was a soothing force in the unexpected onslaught of many men and women coming in together in pairs, with the occasional boys and girls, in search of an empty corner to spend time together. Speaking of which...

"Alone again this year?"

Hinato looks up from where he's washing the dishes at Sojiro, who is raising an eyebrow at him. "Uh...what do you mean?"

Sojiro chuckles with a smirk. "It's Valentine's Day, kid. You still haven't found anyone?"

...Well, that's an awkward reminder of the many red letters magically packed into his shoe locker today at school. It was quite the shocker for him and Morgana, given how Shujin never treated him fairly because of his criminal record. "Oh, um... Well, I'm...taking my time with that sort of thing." The bespectacled boy tries to focus on scrubbing a little spot on one of the plates.

The doorbell chimes. "Yo."

Hinato glances up to see a familiar and very much single (again) blond. "Hey, Ryuji." He dries his hands on the towel before hanging up his apron. "Iced cocoa?"

Ryuji hangs his head with a weary sigh. "Yeah, I could really use one..." Then he pulls out a plastic cup of what looks like chocolate milk tea, the dark tapioca pearls resting at the bottom. "I also got ya this."

"Aw, thanks bro~" Hinato happily accepts the offering and pokes a straw through the top, taking his first sip. _Hm... Wow, not too sweet, but not so bitter, either. And the boba's soft to really enjoy chewing on._ "Damn, this is great! Is there a new boba shop I don't know about?"

Ryuji beams with pride. "Hehe, yeah. It's actually the bread shop in school. You just missed it."

Hinato raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Seriously?" He quickly readies the iced cocoa and slides it across the bar (something he learned from Lala). "No wonder it was so crowded today."

Sojiro closes up early, citing fatigue from the business rush, but he stays in the shop for some downtime. Futaba has to come back from her grocery "side quest," after all. In the meantime, the boys chat about which guy got which girl, who sent who what, and so on.

"You got a lot of stuff, too, didn't you?" Ryuji asks.

"Mm-hm." Hinato nods. "Mostly obligation stuff from Ann and the other girls."

"Aaaaand the letters from after classes?"

He winces at the image of red letters from various strangers. "Oh, _no,_ please, I'm still shook."

Sojiro laughs, cutting into their conversation. "I think I heard about something like that from his parents, once. Apparently, when he was still a first-year, the ladies at his old school called him the 'Ashida Trial.'"

Morgana perks up from where he's eating his cat food dinner. "Ashida Trial...?"

Ryuji tilts his head. "Um, _trial...?_ " He glances at Hinato, who in turn lowers his burning face into his hands.

"Yeah." Sojiro sips his own cup of coffee. "Every now and then, a girl would try to ask him out. Usually, it was someone who knew him from middle school, or just happened to be in the same year as him. But there have been a few older girls from a year or two above." He smirks again. "And every single time, this guy would say no."

"What? No way!" Hinato can feel Ryuji burning holes into him.

"I didn't believe it either, but then an old lady from his old town came to visit relatives here, and stopped by for some lunch. That's when I heard the story again after she saw the photo with him and you guys."

"How many did he turn down?"

Sojiro's smirk falls as he shrugs wearily. "Who knows? I heard they lost count somewhere in the 200's."

One can almost hear Futaba's bug in the cafe humming.

"Must have been awkward, having to see those girls in the hallways after rejecting them." The old, middle-aged man hangs up his apron and grabs his keys. "Well, I'm gonna lock up. Don't stay for too long, or you'll miss the trains on the way home."

The only sound left was the condemning sound of the door closing. Hinato pulls his hood over his eyes.

"...I did not peg you as a consecutive heart-breaker."

_Why thank you, Morgana, **for throwing me under the cat-bus.**_

"Weren't you living with this guy the entire time?"

"There _was_ that time with Haru, but he turned her down, too."

Hinato inhales sharply. It's been a year since that day and, while it hasn't damaged their friendship in the slightest, he _still_ can't look her in the eye without seeing that dim light of a potential love lost. Still, how does Morgana know? He usually leaves when Hinato hangs out with someone to give them time to themselves.

"She was...pretty sad when she told me."

Ah, so she turned to Morgana afterwards. "She told you...?"

"Not the whole thing. She didn't give a name, but I figured it out from how she described her crush...and the looks she gave you on occasion."

Morgana sits back, licking his paw and washing his face. "I am curious, however. Why _did_ you turn her down? Most other girls, I can understand. You don't know them well, and they never bothered to become friends with you first. Makoto, I can also understand. She didn't exactly made a good first impression, and those tend to linger for some. But I think you and Haru would have been wonderful together." Hinato can't help noticing that Ann wasn't brought up.

"Now that you mention it..." Ryuji leans back in his seat. "You never did answer Ann's question back in Hawaii last year, about your preference and all. I mean, everyone knows by now you'd go for anyone. Remember when we met Yusuke? You spent the entire time watching him work." He snickers when Hinato throws a clean napkin at him. "But you more or less avoided the question, and Morgana's right. Haru would have been great for you."

"Ah, well..." The brunet draws circles in a small puddle left by his cold glass of water. "We just...i—it just didn't _click_ for me."

His friend cocks an eyebrow.

"I—I just feel better when it's someone I know?" He rubs the back of his neck, the way he usually does when shy or overall uncomfortable. "I don't like the idea of going out with someone I barely know, and suddenly have things turning sour because they're not who I thought they were or who they were pretending to be."

He lets that last part slip out without him meaning to, and Morgana pounces on it. "Pretending? Was there someone who got your attention?"

Hinato hums in acknowledgement. "It started off as a blind date. One of my classmates thought she would be great for me, and after that, I started to think the same. Smart, cute, funny..." He sighs, shaking his head as he sips his bubble tea. "Then I found out she was bullying one of my friends, who was also a girl. I caught her taking some...humiliating photos and dumped her on the spot. She was like Kamoshida, but dialed way down."

"Good move." Morgana kneads his paws into Hinato's thigh, softly growling in approval. "Someone who hurts your friends behind your back doesn't deserve your attention. Did you report her?"

"Didn't need to. A teacher passed by and heard me."

For a brief moment, it feels like the conversation has ended. Then Ryuji pipes up, "So...who _are_ you looking for?"

Well, that's certainly got him stumped. "Someone I can be myself around, for starters." Hinato taps his finger in thought. "We already established they also have to be someone I know really well...and someone's willing to listen." His finger slowly stops tapping. "It doesn't matter if they're not the smartest, or if they have so many labels. I don't mind if they're loud, nor do I care if they're a troublemaker. I'm not always right, though, so they also have to be someone who can and will pull me back if I'm about to do something wrong. I want to be able to smile and laugh with them, no matter how bad things get, and know that they're one for me."

He huffs, an embarrassed smile curving his lips. "Basically, someone I can call my other half. Sappy and cliche, right?"

Morgana purrs. "Your heart's quite the picky and romantic one, isn't it?"

"It's so him, though." Ryuji grin stretches further across his face.

Hinato ducks his head bashfully. "Yeah...and, lately, I've been feeling weird whenever I'm around you. I'm not sure how to describe it."

Ryuji blinks. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. I just feel really relaxed around you. When I was first came here, I thought I would spend the entire year isolated. No one give a damn. I was just some delinquent to them. But you were the first one to be there for me, and you actually listened to me instead of running away."

_You chased off every thought of me being on my own, and gave me hope._

"I hang out with you more than anyone else..."

_My day gets brighter whenever I see you._

"...and I really feel like I could something stupid, and you would still accept me anyway."

_Any second guessing about myself goes away when I'm with you._

"It's kinda silly, huh?"

...No answer.

"...Ryuji?"

He looks up to see Ryuji staring at him with wide eyes. Hinato's not sure if it's the lighting, but his friend's face seems a little red. _Is he catching a cold? The weather is a little unfriendly, today._ "Um...is everything okay?"

The blond snaps out of it, blinking very hard. "Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah! I was just—" The clock strikes nine. "Oh, shit! I have to get going!"

_Saved by the bell, it seems._ Hinato watches as Ryuji pulls on his hoodie, while Morgana fluidly brushes past Hinato's legs with a unexpected, purring snicker. _What's that about?_ He giggles as Ryuji curses, having forgotten where he put his phone until Hinato points at it's spot near the books and magazines. _Was he always this dorky?_

"Alright, I'm off!" Ryuji waves behind him. "See ya tomorrow, Hina!"

...That "click" Hinato mentioned earlier feels more like a _SNAP._

Before he can say anything, though, Ryuji's already run off, leaving him alone with his stomach twisting, his heart beating at a very odd pace and his head feeling like air.

* * *

_The thought of your kiss_

_Sends my soul into bliss_

_I get high~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bmblb, by Casey Lee Williams
> 
> Wow am I late for Valentine's Day, or what? And I've been dragged back into Persona 5 lately, too. My third play-through is also the first time I've gone down the romantic route with one of the girls, and that's how I discovered the trophy for it. (I didn't even know that was a thing!)
> 
> Anyway, I hoped you enjoy this, and happy belated Valentine's Day, everyone~
> 
> (Also, put down in the comments for fun because I'm curious: who's your first and/or best girl?)


End file.
